Originally posted by jcanavera after salaries and office expenses, the next biggest slice would be expenses related to the International Rally.
Jack

I read somewhere that most, if not all, of the International office time and money is spent on the Int. Rally. And how many working Airstreamers attend that rally? How many of the total membership attend the rally? Not a very high percentage.

So most of the money is spent on a rally that a small percentage of total membership attend? And they refuse to rotate the date so it might work for more people because that would be against tradition?

Well, I guess we really don't read the Blue Beret do we? The report on where our dues go is in the Sept. 2003 Blue Beret on page 19, under Headquarters Notes. It is the fiscal report for the year 2002.

I have to make a mea culpa here for my previous post where I said that Airstream discontinued its free first year membership with the purchase of a new Airstream. When subsequent postings questioned this it made me think about where I got that idea, and I probably mixed up a couple of different programs - although I think there have been postings in other threads to the same effect.

ANYWAY, I'll quote my Unit newsletter, Aug/Sept 2003, a message from our Unit President, "New owner incentive program: President Daryl Ewles has informed the Unit Presidents that 'Due to a recent study of the results related to the free dues program and its effect on the 2002/2003 general operating budget, the New Owner Incentive Program will be discontinued June 20, 2003.' "

Also, I know that our local dealership, Windish RV, in Denver, will pay new owners first year of membership when they purchase a new Airstream. We even have standing rules on how the contribution is to be handled.

Originally posted by Forrest ANYWAY, I'll quote my Unit newsletter, Aug/Sept 2003, a message from our Unit President, "New owner incentive program: President Daryl Ewles has informed the Unit Presidents that 'Due to a recent study of the results related to the free dues program and its effect on the 2002/2003 general operating budget, the New Owner Incentive Program will be discontinued June 20, 2003.' "

Yep if they had been able to keep a good percentage of the new members, it would have paid off since new money would have been coming in. Obviously we didn't meet the expectations of those new members.

Will join only that which I deem to be of an advantage to me.
Those advantages must outweigh all dis-advantages.
I must do a bit of due dilligance to determine the worth of any undertaking. The costs to join/belong are obviously relevant to the amount of due dilligance required.

If in fact there is no freely and cheerfully offered report of where the funds go. Or if they go to unspecified "overhead" for a selected few and/or to the International event which I would probably never or certainly very occasionally attend I would think long and hard about sending them more than say 5-10 dollars for membership.

I read where some think that Wally Byam is passe, outdated and another symbol, icon, figurehead should be found.

Originally posted by Forrest Well, I guess we really don't read the Blue Beret do we? The report on where our dues go is in the Sept. 2003 Blue Beret on page 19, under Headquarters Notes. It is the fiscal report for the year 2002.

Forrest,
Can you share that information for the forum? I don't know if I still have that copy at home.

I belong to a International telecommunications organization. It is similar to WBCCI in that there are many local chapters and a central administrative office. The main function of the central administration is the annual conference. The worker bees are really us out at the local chapters who organize the events and hold the monthy meetings. Annual dues include an amount which is sent to the International and a portion to the local chapter. The International has had declining attendance and has been upping the membership fees since the bulk of their income came from the annual conference. This is squeezing the membership and we have seen a decrease in members.

Bottom line there has been a lot of disatisfaction with the International organization and many of the chapters have now created a seperate class of membership called the non affilated local member. In that classification the member is allowed all local membership rights like meeting attendence and local activites. They cannot however attend the International conference or derive any benefits like the monthy International newsletter or other discounted offers.

While I doubt the current WBCCI bylaws would allow this, a sttructure of this type could lower dues and direct money to the local units for use to support the local members. Right now our local dues are $12 a year which gives us nothing to work with.

The WBCCI also publishes an annual report. I believe I saw one in the BB or somewhere a while back.

All U.S. nonprofits with more than $25k in gross revenue also have to file IRS Form 990 and make it available to the public. This form is essentially an annual financial report.

BB should pretty much take care of itself, finance-wise.

The international rally should pretty much take care of itself finance-wise.

But $70 for an annual membership is not out of line for an association like the WBCCI.

The WBCCI struggles right now are not so much finance as they are of identity. Is it big or is it small? Is it aluminum or is it Airstream? Is it RV or is it lifestyle? Is a rally a caravan? What was it and how has that changed? Is it old or young? Is it local or regional or national or international? What is its image? How |is|was|wiil be| it recognized?

For the WBCCI right now, the issue is making the right decision about what is the most important question. The survey is a start on learning about this. Let's hope it is well and properly used.

The objective of the International Club shall be to furnish encouragement and assistance in the development of Regions, Units and Intra-clubs:

to afford opportunities for outdoor fraternization of recreational vehicle owners;

to encourage safe driving and assist in improving general welfare of the recreational vehicle public through assistance and active participation of all its members in building a strong organization for the betterment of good will toward recreational vehicle travel;

to coordinate the interest and activities of its Regions and Units;

to cooperate with other organizations within its sphere of interest which are seeking to elevate the standards and ethics of the various groups;

to disseminate information of an advisory and educational nature which will be of value to its members and the public;

to study, advise and recommend legislation in the interest of the recreational vehicle public and to oppose all legislation which is discriminatory and injurious to the recreational vehicle public and to encourage government and private agencies to provide more and better recreational vehicle parks and facilities.

Thought this might be of interest to those wondering what WBCCI is all about.....

Thought this might be of interest to those wondering what WBCCI is all about.....

Questions about the goals in the consitution:
-> Are there specific measuring tools that can be applied on a regular basis to determine progress and activity towards those goals?
-> Is such a process of evaluation regularly conducted on a serious basis?
-> Are the results of such evaluations used in planning and budgeting?

I have a copy of the financial report on the way. They cannot email them since they are no available as an electronic document, but they are mailing a copy.

I do know that the club dues cover a multitude of things. The funding for the international rallies is not part of it. The international rallies are expected to end close to break even, or in the black. deposits and permits, etc for the rallies do need to be paid in advance, but in the long run the money is recouped.

One of the things that is covered is the headquarters operating expense as well as the Liability insurance policy. Some of the International offices receive a partial reimbursement for their travel on behalf of the club. I know for a fact this in no way covers the expenses they incur to carry out the assigned duties of their positions.

As a previous poster said, the dues are not extreme, but you do wonder what they are used for.

I will be more than happy to post what I find in the report. Of course I will have to have my wife do the translation since I am a computer geek and she is the one that is strong in numbers

I remember "Yakety Sax" very well.
You're not alone! I also played a sax. I play mostly by ear, donít follow music very much. I used to practice by playing along with his albums; although some people didn't like his style, I feel I learned a lot that way.

I haven't played for a while and I would like to get back into it.

A very exciting time once in H/S was when I got to meet him. He was performing in a nearby H/S. A friend of mine and fellow sax player followed him back to his room after the performance and he was very nice in talking with us a bit. Although pressed for time we did get an autograph at the time. I guess it's possible I might still have that somewhere. That has been about 30 years ago. Man how time flies!